After the Thanksgiving Disaster, Will Christmas Be an Encore?
A Commentary By Cherie Bennett
Hey, Cherie!
I am writing this after the world's worst Thanksgiving. By the way, I am a 15-year-old girl who now lives in what I call a blended family. I have two little brothers, and my mom and dad divorced a few years ago. They are both married to other people who each had kids our age, too. To make things worse, everyone now lives in the same town. You would think this would make things better. It doesn't.
It wasn't like this until this year when my dad and his new family moved back to the town where I live with my mom. They also changed their custody so that my brothers and I could share more time in each house. You would think that would make things better at a holiday like Thanksgiving. It didn't.
Actually, I am not being fair. I like having both parents here. But here is what happened at Thanksgiving. There was a shuttle service going on between the two houses. One house had Thanksgiving dinner at 3 in the afternoon, while the other had it at 5. The people who ate early, including me, had no appetite for the second dinner, which offended the person who was giving it. I was also super tired by the second dinner. This two-dinner plan worked only for the adults. Not us kids.
Here's the worst part. They want to do it this way again for Christmas, except adding Christmas Eve. Help. Help, help, help!
-- Shuttle Kid
Hey, Shuttle!
Welcome to the 21st century.
It sounds like your parents have worked out a lot of the issues having to do with the divorce, and it sounds like most of the time it's a good thing that your mom and your dad are in the same town. It also sounds like it could be worse: They could have planned one of those Thanksgivings where both of their new families would come together, and then you could have a scene out of a movie where the camera would come in close on you fake-slitting your wrists.
Thanksgiving is a tricky one because there's no Thanksgiving Eve. In any case, you have nearly a year until the next Turkey Day, and you can get creative in your thinking as you approach the summer. (Direct order from Cherie: Let others recover from this past holiday before you start planning for next year.)
If you act fast, you might be able to head off a Christmas repeat. But you have to act fast. Pick the parent that you think would be most sympathetic. See if there's some way that you and your brothers can have Christmas Eve with one parental and then Christmas Day with the other. Next year, you can switch. And so on. Give it a try. Happy New Year!
Hey, Cherie!
I am a 14-year-old guy who has a unibrow. You know, where a person's eyebrows are so thick and long that they come together over the top of the nose -- it looks like there's just one long magic carpet for a person to ride. That's putting it nicely. When I don't put it so nicely, it looks like a hairy caterpillar to me.
I've never been kissed and wonder if it's because of this. Any ideas?
-- Unibrowed
Hey, Unibrowed!
There are plenty of guys your age who haven't been kissed, and there are a lot of reasons that's so. Sometimes it's by the guy's own choice.
But I digress. If you think a girl isn't kissing you because there's a caterpillar on your lower forehead, it can't be so great for your self-confidence. Options: Shaving. Plucking. Waxing. Electrolysis to permanently remove the hairs. The most cost-effective one for a teen is waxing. Talk to the guy/girl who cuts your hair. Believe me, your hairdresser has heard everything and will hook you up at a reasonable price. Word is it only hurts a little bit.
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